School plan 2018-2020Spring Ridge Public School 3091

Printed on: 12 April, 2018Page 1 of 6 Spring Ridge Public School 3091 (2018-2020)

School background 2018–2020

School vision statement School context School planning process

Our school is a place where all students regardless ofbackground or ability, can be successful learners and thebest that they can be.

Our vision for education is close in line to that of theMelbourne Declaration this being that our goals at SpringRidge School focuses on promoting equity and excellence,and students becoming successful learners, confident andcreative individuals and active informed citizens.

Our vision requires teachers and leaders who:

– know their students and how individual learns.

– know intensively the syllabus contents for each keylearning area and how to effectively teach it.

– create a school where students feel safe and supported.

– implement and use effective quality teaching and learningpractices.

– provide useful assessment strategies in providingaccurate reporting feedback to parents and the studentsthemselves.

– are continually seeking new ways to learn and strive toteach lessons which are thought provoking, interesting andengaging.

Engage professionally with other staff members,parents,carers and wide community.

Spring Ridge Public School is a K–6  school of 34 students,situated southwest of Tamworth on the fertileLiverpool  Plains.  The school services a  supportive ruralcommunity which is proud of its school and theachievements  of its children.

At present the school has two full time  teachers and a parttime teacher who is employed 3 days per week tosupport  our infant’s students.  The school  enjoys thesupport of an active P&C and School Council.

The school is a registered KidsMatter  school which is partof an Australia wide primary school’s mentalhealth  initiative.

The school undertakes a wide variety of  teaching andlearning programs including Best Start, L3 Literacy,Accelerated  Literacy, Cars and Stars ComprehensionReading program and Stepping Stones.

Parents are very supportive of the  school and are veryactive, helping out regularly in classrooms withliteracy  activities, sporting carnivals, travel to/from externalactivities and the  school canteen.

Student’s participation in sport is  enthusiastic and theyregularly participate in the Premier’s Sporting  Challenge aswell as solid performance in PSSA sports.

The student Representative Council  regularly meets eachterm where students have a say in purchasingequipment  and learning activities.

 

A review of the 2015–2017 school plan was conducted witha series of surveys for parents,staff and students. In eachsurvey parents, teachers and students had the opportunityto reflect on what works well at Spring Ridge School andwhat areas need improvement.

 

Feedback

• Indicated that the community as a whole consideredour school to be an excellent place where educationwas of a very high standard and it was a place wherethe students felt safe.

• Parents want the basics to be at the forefront ofteaching and learning activities with a real focus onliteracy and numeracy

• They want technology to aid in teaching and learningand want students to be competent users oftechnology for learning and communication purposes.

• Parents wanted children to experience an enrichedcurriculum based around weekly CAPA sessions.

• Teachers are very happy with class structures and arethrilled to work in such a cooperative workingenvironment.

• Teachers are open to exploring strengths andweaknesses within their own teaching and exploreand share better or improved teaching practices.

• Teachers would like to take more teacher ProfessionalLearning in the implementation of STEAM. roboticsand the new accreditation process.

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School strategic directions 2018–2020

STRATEGICDIRECTION 1

FUTURE FOCUSEDLEARNING

STRATEGICDIRECTION 2

KNOWLEDGEABLE STAFF

Purpose:

Future Focused Learning refers to teaching and preparing students to be successfullearners, confident and creative individuals and active informed citizens.

To ensure that students will become active, engaged and informed self directed learnersthrough the use of technology to prepare them for potential life roles.

Purpose:

Great Teachers are knowledgeable. They know their students, they know their curriculum,they know best practice pedagogy, they welcome feedback and they embrace reflection.

Teachers will utilise explicit systems for collaboratively assessing student learning with highpriority given to evidence based teaching strategies and collection of data.

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Strategic Direction 1: FUTURE FOCUSED LEARNING

Purpose

Future Focused Learning refers to teachingand preparing students to be successfullearners, confident and creative individualsand active informed citizens.

To ensure that students will become active,engaged and informed self directedlearners through the use of technology toprepare them for potential life roles.

Improvement Measures

All staff embedding Future FocussedLearning into classroom practise. This willbe evidenced in programs, classroomobservations, student work samples,eportfolios and attendance at professionallearning.

Teaching and learning programs arecentred around Future Focussed Learningas evidenced   by programs, studentfeedback and student and staff surveys.

People

Students

Engage in STEAM through higher thinkingfor Future Focussed Learning . Supportstudents with touch typing techniques toimprove speed and accuracy. 

Staff

Build Teacher Capacity in the use oftechnology and develop appropriatedocuments and protocols.

Leaders

All Principal's of the Alliance are committedto support Future Focussed Learning withintheir schools.

Parents/Carers

Understand and engage with FutureFocused Learning.

Community Partners

Strengthen our Small Schools Alliancethrough Future Focussed Learning throughregular Professional Learning.

Processes

FUTURE FOCUSSED LEARNING

* Collegial work with Small School Alliancewith regular professional learning forteachers through external teachers andspecialised teaching practices and programrelated to Future Focussed Learningincluding technology, STEAM, coding androbotics.

CURRICULUM ENRICHMENT

* Focussed learning sessions with othersmall schools and local High School basedaround technology, academic, sporting andcultural lessons.

Evaluation Plan

All schools of Small Schools Alliance meetregularly to collaborate and for teachers todemonstrate an understanding of STEAMin authentic ways.

Progress will be measured againstmilestones on a regular basis, twice a term.

Evaluation strategies will include classroomobservations, student achievements as wellas staff, student and parents surveys.

Practices and Products

Practices

FUTURE FOCUSSED LEARNING

Teachers actively use technology toenhance teaching and learning. This will beevidenced in PDP's, classroomobservations, staff reflections, assessmentmatrixes and staff surveys.

CURRICULUM ENRICHMENT

* Students actively engaging in FutureFocused Learning with termly visits to othersmall schools with specialised teachingexperts as evidenced by classroomobservations, student reflections.

* Staff actively collaborate within andacross schools to develop futurefocussed  teaching  and learning units   asevidenced in teacher discussions, staffsurveys , staff programs.

Products

FUTURE FOCUSSED LEARNING

* All staff embed Future Focussed Learninginto classroom practise. This will beevidenced in programs, classroomobservations, student work samples,eportfolios and attendance at professionallearning.

CURRICULUM ENRICHMENT

Teaching and learning programs arecentred around future focussed learning asevidenced by programs, student feedbackand student eportfolios.

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Strategic Direction 2: KNOWLEDGEABLE STAFF

Purpose

Great Teachers are knowledgeable. Theyknow their students, they know theircurriculum, they know best practicepedagogy, they welcome feedback andthey embrace reflection.

Teachers will utilise explicit systems forcollaboratively assessing student learningwith high priority given to evidence basedteaching strategies and collection of data.

Improvement Measures

Resulting from working as an alliance aconsistent approach to assessment tasks inthe areas of writing, numeracy and readingacross stages resulting in a more informedjudgement of student learning.

Teachers use the Excellence framework toidentify areas of growth in their ownteaching and learning. Evidenced by schoolsustaining and growing in the area of datause and skills in teaching and planning.

People

Students

Know when and why assessment isundertaken and understands theassessment approaches used in the schooland their benefits for learning.

Staff

Share criteria for student assessments withstudents.                

Leaders

Principals will lead the development of staffin the areas of assessment and data.

Parents/Carers

Understands the assessment approachesused in the school and their benefits forlearning.

Community Partners

Strengthen our Small School Alliancethrough collaborative assessment tasks.

Processes

COLLABORATIVE ASSESSMENT ANDFEEDBACK 

Development of rich assessment tasks withcriteria – specific rubrics that can be usedacross grades and stages to enableconsistency of teacher judgment whenproviding feedback to students andparents.

DATA SKILLS AND USE

The School  Excellence Framework/Teaching standards is used to targettraining and development and data use toensure quality learning practices for allstudents.

Evaluation Plan

Progress will be measured againstmilestones on a regular basis, twice a term.Milestones will be evaluated by communityof School Team and also school staff.

Evaluation strategies will include: classroom observations, studentachievements as well as staff, student andparent surveys. 

Practices and Products

Practices

COLLABORATIVE ASSESSMENT ANDFEEDBACK

All schools of the Small School Alliancecollaborate rich assessment tasks andcriteria specific rubrics. Rubrics aredeveloped for students and teachers to useas a reflection tool to indicate achievementand inform future learning practices.

Stage Assessments are administrated andmoderated in the areas of Math, Writingand Reading across all schools in thealliance. 

DATA SKILLS AND USE

All staff use the School ExcellenceFramework to inform areas of need toensure school is sustaining and growing inthe area of data skills and use in teachingand planning.

Teachers use data effectively to plan andidentify skill gaps for improvement.Teachers identify, monitor and trackstudents progress evidenced by studentswork samples, classroom observations andstudent and staff feedback.

Products

COLLABORATIVE ASSESSMENT ANDFEEDBACK

A whole School approach to assessmenttasks in the areas of Math, Writing andReading across stages within the SmallSchools Alliance.

DATA SKILLS AND USE

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Strategic Direction 2: KNOWLEDGEABLE STAFF

Practices and Products

Teachers use the Excellence Framework toidentify areas of growth in their ownteaching and learning as well as outliningfuture directions for the school.

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